Jeff Kaplan plans to combat surveillance fatigue

The BlizzCon of the Year was an odd on many levels, but I was personally killed by the number of…

The BlizzCon of the Year was an odd on many levels, but I was personally killed by the number of friends and acquaintances who said they had taken weeks or months to play Overwatch . Last year and the year before, it was an obsession. But lately it felt a little old. Despite that feeling, the director and proud internet papa Jeff Kaplan does not play the sound yet.

“I always think about the type of game Overwatch is-competitive 6v6 action shooter-it’s the type of game that players will ebb and float in and out,” he told Kotaku ] during an interview at BlizzCon. “I think it’s very natural. I think it’s very good for players, and it’s good for us not to get players to occupy, like all they ever do is play Overwatch .”

That’s not to say that it’s been a sad year for Overwatch . The game introduced a hero that is a mecha-piloting mega-genius hamster, to cry high. Kaplan and the company have also added group and approval systems to the game, which leads to generally better sports skills among players &#821

1; a welcome development through each action. Then there were Overwatch League and spectator features designed with esports in mind. At the same time, seasonal events such as Summer Games and Halloween Terror were business-like as usual, and a stun and boop-heavy meta made the task of playing key roles to a blow to many players. Overwatch has also been out for two years now. It is comfortably anchored, but for some it feels almost too comfortable to feel satisfying. And it can make them go away.

When Jeff Kaplan begins to be worried, he said, players are not only checking out temporarily, but indefinitely, maybe even permanently. “It’s something that I think we would like to continue the radar and say,” Did not we introduce a new hero? Do we not present new maps? Do we not present new positions? Well then, let’s do it. “”

“I sometimes feel panic when it’s” Oh my friends are playing Call of Duty in the month “or” anything, “he said.” That’s ok. Call of Duty is brand new, and it’s super amazing. We play it too. Then we will come back and play Overwatch and make our placements. “

” Complaints are real and complaints are correct. “

Ashe is Overwatch the team’s latest attempt to give the game a shot in the arm – and probably the head, limbs, intestines and so on. Kaplan hopes the cowgirl with a heart of obsidian (and a robot friend) will come both to live up to things and help deal with some of the more profound issues of the game. In particular, she notices that she is not a boop machine, because she is unable to suspend thoughts in the infinite purgatory for several small ages with With the help of stun and knockback abilities. It’s through design. Players have complained of an abundance of stun and knockback abilities in the game from the shield-bash-happy Brigitte destabilized meta at the beginning of the year, and Kaplan said these complaints are “real” and “correct.”

“I think Brigitte is an interesting character in that she was one of the heroes who really escalated that discussion,” he said. “She is really defined by her shield bash and it is particularly cracked. We just straightened down the nerfed shield bash. We changed the cooling down on it in a new patch. We recently took Brigitte a new passport to reduce her shield damage. “

Doomfist, with its ability to hit heroes as helpless pinballs, is also in line for a nerf, although Kaplan has” nothing specific to report right now. “

Giuliani's remarks were an attempt to damage the control of comments he made one day…

“Ashe Ashe was very careful,” says Kaplan. “Just the introduction of Ashe, with us going.” Here is a traditional gun-based character more like McCree, more like Phara. “She have a knockback on her, but you will not see Ashe run into the crime with the specific intention of smashing people across borders-for the most part. She is a stand-back character. “

Ashe can hit enemies back with his shotgun side arm, but it’s less an attack and more a defense mechanism.” The reason she has this coach is what we call to relax, “he said.” So if A danger or Genji gets up on her, she can walk “Hi, come back from me” and then use her rifles. But characters do not lose air control when she does the knockback. She has no boots on her. I also like to look at her design and see how much we chilled out; There are no major public control effects on Ashe. “

So if you or your friends decided to sit out for a season because you were annoyed by the state Overwatch balance and all the time, you are unable to change your expenses, which may change in the near future. What is not going to change is Kaplan’s existing heroes. Although this year has seen major reviews of both Symmetra and Torbjorn, everyone else is set. At least, for now.

“We have no review character on our list, which is just fine, “says Kaplan.” I think it’s a necessity sometimes. Torbjorn and Symmetra were both in a place where balance tweaks alone would not make the characters more viable. But in general, I’m not a big fan of reworks. “

” I tried to be very transparent with society that our focus was not the seasonal events right now. “

“With Symmetra, I’m personally in standby,” he said. “There are two elements there: One is, did we get the right mechanics? Is this character the one we want them to do and occupy the gameplay space we hope they occupy? And then the other part is the balance. We feel like characters like Torbjorn and Symmetra, they mechanically do what we want them to do now, but I do not know if they are properly balanced. “

Balance changes and revisions, says Kaplan, are also a part of the reason why other parts of the game stopped pouring water this year. Players have repeatedly expressed disappointment that seasonal events – once flashbacks for lost players – stuck in a ruta.

“I tried to be very transparent with society that our focus was not seasonal events right now,” Kaplan noted. The team instead prioritized “other things” like new heroes, balance changes, reviews, LFG, approvals and views.

Kaplan claimed that it was more where it came from – not for events. If you expect the coming “Winter Wonderland” event to be as unrecognizable as your own backyard after it has been covered in snow, you should be careful keep these hopes, as Kaplan said that Winter Wonderland will “feel very similar to what it felt last year. “

Kaplan is more focused on what will happen a little further, and he thinks it will be worth waiting at the end. When he was pushed for specific, however, he could only laugh and groan in his brand” Difficult Dad , accidentally make ASMR. “”

“We have some tricks on the sleeves for next year, which I think will be pretty cool,” he said. “When these moments happen, I think players will go,” Oh, I get what you’ve done now. “It’s always hard because we try not to talk about things too soon. For some of our players, it’s a week long. Others are a bit more sympathetic and they get things to take. But the team works harder than they’ve ever worked for. They are bigger than ever before. So I really think there are big things coming for Overwatch . “